PPE/Knife Room Clerk - 3rd Shift

Prestage Farms; Iowa; On-site; USD 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Prestage Foods, Inc. is seeking an administrative support person to assist the Purchasing Manager and plant management while overseeing Knife Room operations.

This role requires excellent customer service, a positive attitude, and the ability to work in a fast-paced team environment. The successful candidate will gather, clean, and maintain knives and carts, operate knife room equipment, and ensure compliance with safety and sanitation standards, HACCP, SSOP, GMP, and SQF programs.

Qualifications

• Must read and interpret safety rules, operating instructions, and procedures.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication; interact with all levels of management and customers.
• Capable of daily planning, working independently, and staying motivated.
• Ability to perform basic arithmetic and work with measurements.
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and related word processing features.
• Able to safely operate blade sharpeners, honing devices, and grinders.

Responsibilities

• Gathers, disassembles, cleans, sanitizes, reassembles knives and carts for departments and lines.
• Maintains knife room equipment using hot water and approved cleaners per safety standards.
• Checks production lines to verify knives function properly; exchanges or repairs as needed.
• Operates blade sharpeners, honers, and hollow grinders to maintain knife performance.
• Greases and maintains equipment at knife stations throughout the day.
• Maintains documentation and supports daily administrative tasks for Purchasing Manager and plant management.
• Performs general customer service to plant employees and departments served by Knife Room.
• Ensures compliance with HACCP, SSOP, GMP, and SQF safety programs.

Skills

Reading & interpretation

English communication

Planning & scheduling

Mathematical ability

Attention to detail

Multi-tasking

Team interaction

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

Microsoft Office

Blade sharpeners operation

Hollow grinders operation

Job description

Summary

Provides administrative support and assistance to the Purchasing Manager and plant management as directed, while also overseeing critical Knife Room operations. Excellent customer service skills required, along with a positive attitude and the ability to work in a fast-paced team environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Gathers, disassembles, cleans, sanitizes, reassembles, and organizes knives and knife carts for designated departments and production lines.
• Maintains knife room equipment using 140-degree water and approved cleaning chemicals in compliance with safety and sanitation standards.
• Conducts routine checks of production lines to verify knives are functioning properly; exchanges or repairs knives as needed.
• Operates blade sharpeners, honers, and hollow grinders to maintain knife performance and quality.
• Visits Whizard knife stations throughout the day to grease and maintain equipment.
• Maintains accurate documentation and supports daily administrative functions for the Purchasing Manager and plant management.
• Performs general customer service to plant employees and departments served by the Knife Room.
• Ensures government regulatory compliance, HACCP, SSOP, GMP, and SQF program standards for product performance and safety.
• Maintains a strong commitment to safety in the operating process.
• Other tasks deemed/directed by management.

Education and/or Experience

High school diploma or general education degree (GED), or knowledge equivalent to.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to interact with all levels of management and customers.
• Ability to plan work on a daily schedule, work independently, and be a highly motivated individual.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to multi-task and work with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) and word processing software.
• Ability to safely operate blade sharpeners, honers, and hollow grinders.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee frequently handles sharp blades and knife equipment, and is required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to sit and climb or balance. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to hot water (up to 140 degrees) and cleaning chemicals used in the Knife Room, and occasionally exposed to extreme cold and extreme heat elsewhere in the plant. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.